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“I honestly didn’t ask, though I’m curious. Reading it is one thing, seeing it live is another,” he said.
“Very true. You’ll have to tell me all about it after the play over dinner,” I said.
“It’s a date,” he replied.
Chapter 11
Mac
It probably helped that I had at least read the play, so I knew what was going on. I had a basic idea of the plot and the characters to draw from. Though a lot had changed since I had read Hans’s first draft years ago, the basic idea and themes were the same, not that I was seeing or comprehending any of it.
All I could think about, the only thing I could even remotely concentrate on was Hope. The fact that she was sitting next to me. She looked so gorgeous and sexy in her tight-fitting dress that showed off her curves and her body in a way that made my mouth go dry. I remembered when she smiled and realized where we were going and how it made my heart swell. She smelled like honeysuckle and lemon and caused my head to spin whenever I was near her.
It had only taken a simple phone call to get the tickets for the show. Hans had been more than happy to give me a set of his house seats. Though I was sure I would get grilled by my mother about what woman I was dating and why I felt the need to take her to such a prestigious play. I didn’t care, it was worth it to see Hope’s face light up as she watched the show.
The play was done in the old school style murder mystery with the twist that the person being murdered and the murderer changed every week. It could have felt cheesy and over the top, but Hans had done a great job in making sure it wasn’t. The acting was fresh and exciting, and the concept was new and yet familiar.
Hope’s hair was pulled to the side, and when she laughed at a moment in the play, it allowed me the perfect portrait of her face. Even in the darkened theater I could see her eyes light up from the antics of the people on the stage. I could just as easily have sat and watched her all night instead of the show, but I knew I couldn't do that.
Doing so would only draw more attention to how much I was enjoying my time with Hope. I had to resist the urge to reach across and take her hand in mine. A few times our hands had brushed up against each other, either when we were getting into our seats, or when we had moved in our chairs. I had felt the touch of her hand through my whole being and it only made me want to touch more of her. It had been a slow torture to be next to her but one I would gladly endure.
As hard as it was to be next to her and not touch her, to not lean over to her and whisper in her ear, to not take her hand in mine, it was worse to not be around her. The play, going to dinner after was a step, a first, small step in the direction that I wanted us to go. One where we were dating each other. As JD had said, this was my chance to make her mine and I wasn’t going to blow it.
I had been concerned that Hope wouldn’t see the evening as a date, our very first date. When she opened the door and I saw how gorgeous she looked, I knew my worries had been unfounded. Standing in the kitchen, I had a chance to tell her just how much the evening meant to me. I let her know I didn’t do casual when it came to dating, and especially when it came to dating her. I had never understood how my brothers could be with one woman one night and then with another the next. I had never had a one-night stand, any woman I was with, I was with for the long haul. I was going for the long haul, the longest haul, when it came to Hope.
When the play ended, we, and the rest of the audience, stood to give a standing ovation. It felt like only moments had passed since the show had started, but time seemed to fly whenever I was around Hope. I looked over to see her smiling at me with a huge grin. I could see how much she had enjoyed the play and she was happy she had come. I smiled back at her.
As we were heading out to the lobby, she chatted me up, telling me all about her favorite parts of the play.
“Who would have thought it would be Agnes. She was the last person I would have suspected. Maybe that was the point. I thought for sure it was Reginald who had killed the butler,” she said.
“Hans did a good job keeping you interested and guessing then,” I said.
We were surrounded by people as we all left in one big mass, but I could still stand by Hope and talk to her. As we did, our hands kept brushing up against each other and because of it, I was having a hard time concentrating.
“What did you think? Who did you think did it?” she asked.
“I didn’t know. I had no idea until the very end,” I said.
“Even when Percy found the knife in Agnes’s purse?” she asked.
I honestly didn’t know who Agnes was or anything about her purse. I could have lied to Hope and said something to make her think I had watched the play, but I had told her I would never lie to her, and I wasn’t going to start now.
“Sorry, I must have missed that part,” I admitted.
We didn’t get to say anything more as we reached the lobby as the crowd grew denser as we funneled out of the doorways. I thought I heard Hope talking to me, but the noise level had increased as we moved outside, and I couldn’t be sure.
Right before we got out of the theater, I turned to her and asked her, “Are you still hungry for dinner?”
“You still want to go?” She looked at me as if she was shocked that I would even consider having a meal with her.
“Yes, absolutely. Why wouldn’t I?”
“You seem distracted. You hardly watched the play, you looked like you wanted to be anywhere but here, and you hardly answered my questions about it. If you’re tired, or you have some other things on your mind and you want to call it a night, I wouldn’t fault you. It’s okay,” she said.
“No,” I said quickly.
I took her hands in mine and squeezed them. There was a jolt, a shock, a connection that I felt when I did. Hope must have felt it too for she let out a soft cry and her eyes lifted and locked on mine. I held her gaze and took a deep breath. I needed a moment to get my thoughts and feelings under control before I spoke.
